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Article: Enchantingly Exotic; The Amaryllis Never Fails to Excite
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- February 9, 1989
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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"The amaryllis is just too weird a plant," declared a friend who
had received one as a present. She found the red of the
six-inch-diameter bloom so intensely vivid as to be
disturbing-particularly in the middle of winter, which is its
flowering season. Then she added, "Why does the top of the bulb need
to stick out? Shouldn't it be nicely covered with dirt like all
other bulbs?"
One day her amaryllis keeled over. The weight of its bloom
leaning on one side and the pull of the unruly clutter of its leaves
were such that the bulb loosened in the pot. The once upright flower
stem, 18 inches tall, had to be propped up against the wall, and the
leaves, even longer than the flower stem, were ...